Needle-cutter



C. E. JOHNSON.

NEEDLE CUTTER. H APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 18, 1919.

Patented Nov. 2, 1920.

v n!! Illmr' UNITED stares CHARLES E. JOHNSN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

NEEDLE-CUTTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 2, 1920.

Application filed September 18, 1919. Serial No. 324,459.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, CHARLES E. JOHNSON, acitizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cookand State of illinois, have invented certain new and useful improvementsin Needle Cutters, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in needle cutters adapted forpointing fiber needles for phonographs.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide an implement, orneedle cutter, for repointing fiber needles, such for example, asneedles made of bamboo, in which there is a relatively soft portion anda skin of relatively hard, more refractory material, the latter portionbeing the eifective part to make actual contact with the undulatorygroove in the record.

It is a desideratum, in devices of this character, that they should beso constructed as to make a clear, clean cut without leaving a featheredge and to do this, that the cut should be made from the softer portionof the needle body toward the harder portion and in a generally axialdirection, more or less in line with the grain of the wood, but in suchmanner that the hard portion of the needle is the last to be cut duringthe progress of the knife across the surface from which the cleft orshaving is sheared.

rlhe disclosed apparatus produces a shearing cut in which the knife iscontinuously dra-wn in a diagonal direction across the linear axis oftheneedle from the heel, or wider end of the cleft surface toward the toe,or

point and toward the harder skin or Vmore refractory part of the needlebody, which latter portion of the needle is supported by` a plate, thesalient edge of which is in oooperation with the knife, completes thecut through the harder part of the needle to produce a clear, sharp,salient point.

ln the operation of the described appatus, the hard part of the needleis the last portion to be progressively separated from the body and itis removed by the knife in such manner that the softer portion of theneedle body, in substantially the same transy'erse plane near the point,is first segregated, leaving the harder part as a support it isessential against which the softer part is pressed by the knife inmaking the cut.

-The diagonally directed shearing operation or the knife prevents abruptseparation of the cleft, or shaving from the body, as when the cut ismade otherwise, which produces a rough, uneven fracture, not soserviceable and, furthermore, the-manner of shearing the shaving fromthe diagonal end of the needle by the aforesaid cutter. is such that theshearing operation may be` per formed in finer gradations thanotherwise, and therefore a greater number of cuts Ina-v be made from theend of a given needle before it becomes too short for use.

Another object of the invention is to provide a means for adjusting thecutter so that the thickness of the part or shaving, removed from theend of the needle may be varied. Other, further and more particularobgects of the invention will become readily apparent, to personsskilled in the art, from a consideration of the following descriptionwhen. taken in conjunction with the drawings, wherein Figure l is anelevation of the device or implement.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged portion of the device showing the needle appliedin position to be operated upon.

Fig. 3 is a transverse section taken on line 3--3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. l is a section taken on line li-fl of Fig. 2.

Fig, 5 is a section, similar to the section shown in Fig. 3, showing theposition of the parts after the out has been completed.

Fig. 6 shows the device open with the parts in the position they occupywhen the cut is about to be made.

Fig. 7 shows the inner surface of one of the jaws; and Y Fig. S showsthe inner surface of the opposite and cooperating In all the views thesame reference characters are employed to indicate similar parts.

In the drawings, -two members l() and l1 are pivoted together, as at l2,and each carries on its extended end, beyond the pivot, a jaw. The jawl3,`which is an extended portion of the member 11, carries a knife 1li,which has a cutting edge 15 and which aperture 2O is made through thebody portion of the jaw 13 and communicates with a depression 16 withinwhich the knife is located and serves as a means for discharging theshavings cut away from the needle by operation of the knife.V The jaw 13is provided with a perforation 21, through which the shank The screw ofjaw 23.

rlhe member 10 i'sprovided with va jaw 23 which isv brought intosubstantially Vsliding contact with the jaw 13 in the operation of thedevice. rlhe jaw 23 has a depression within which a backing plate 24- isplaced and Vwhich is provided with an angular opening or groove 25,within which the needle is located during the cutting operation, as'.more clearly shown in Figs. 3 and 5. Communicating with the angularopening 25, in the plate2-1, is a triangular shaped pocket 26 withinwhich the needle is to be inserted, the opening in which registers withthe opening 25 in the plate 2li.

ln the operation of the device the surface 1T of the knife is yieldinglyheld by a spring' in contact with the surface 27 of the plate 24. Thisis accomplished .by means of the spring washer 28, surrounding the shank22 of the screw 12, which'is held in place by the nut 29.

Then the needle 30, which is triangular in also passes through the bore21 shape, as more clearly shown in F ig. 2, is

inserted in the pocket 26, and through the aperture 25 in the plate 24,its end 1s brought into abutting contact with the surface 18 thatsurrounds the knife 14C, the part at the time being in the positionshown in Figs. 3 and 6. The distance of separation of the abutment 18,on the jaw 13, from the plate 24, carried by the jaw 23, determines thethickness of the shaving to be cut from they end of the needle 30. Byturning the screw 19 clockwise, the jaws may be separated to a greateror less extent against the yielding effect of the spring washer 28surrounding the shank 22 of the sc 'ew'l2. The yielding effect of thewasher 26 also serves as a means for holding the knife in closeproximity with the coperating backing plate 24carried by the oppositejaw. f

N ow it will be noticed, by observing the position of the needle in Fig.6, wherein the parts are in their proper position to begin the operationof cutting off the oblique end 22 of the pivot screw 12 passes.

of the needle, that when the handle members 10 and 11 are drawntogether, in the process of cutting the needle, theedge `15 of the'blade 14 is drawn across the axis of the needle during the entirecutting operation, beginning at the wider portion of the cut or cleftsurface of the needle, and terminating at the exact point. Near the endof the stroke the softer portion 30 of the needle is cut first and theshearing stroke of the knife tends to push the softerV portion 30 of theneedle toward the harder film or skin 31, and when the knife has reachednear the extreme point of the needle it is moving almost in an axialplane, but somewhat oblique to the axial plane, toward and traversingthe harder surface of the needle. ln this operation the plate 24` servesas a backing for the harder surface 31 of the needle and in coperationwith the cutting edge 15 of the knife 14, a clear unfeathered edge ismade at the extreme point of the cut.

lV hen the screw 19 is turned inwardly, the abutment 18 is moved fartheraway from the opening 25, and the plate 27, and a larger amount of theneedle is thus located beyond the knife and a lthicker shavingl or cleftis removed from the needle during the shearing operation. The blade landplate 2d are located in respective depressions and substantially floattherein, as other means for holding them in place is unnecessary,`thejaw of one member beingA always juxtaposed to the jaw ofthe othermember, or so closely in contact as to prevent the displacement of ythesaid kknifeor plate from between the jaws. A crescent shaped slot 32 ismade into one of the jaws, in which is included a projection 33 from theother jaw, to limit the extent to which the jaws may be opened, asclearly shown in Fig. 6. i

While l have herein shown a single embodiment of my invent-ion for thepurpcse of clear disclosure it will be manifest to persons skilled inthe art that many changes may be made in the configuration and generaldisposition of the parts within the scope of the appended claims. YHaving described my invention, what l claim is2` v 1. A needle cutterhaving in combinative association two pivoted-together jaws, said jawshaving confronting depressions in their inner surfaces to afford plateabutments; a plate in one depression having an Vopening' throughwhich toinsert a needle; a floating' manually adjustable knife blade in theother depression for coperation with the plate; an abutment for the endof the needle, carried by the jaw containing the knife, to gage thethicknessV of the needle cleft and adjustable means to vary the distancebetween said' abutment and plate.

2. A needle cutter having in combinative association twopivoted-together jaws, said jaws having confronting depressions in theirinner surfaces; a needle backing-plate in one depression having aV-shaped opening through which to insert a needle; a floating unattachedknife-blade in the other depression in frictional contact with theplate; a resilient means to hold the plate and blade in contact witheach other; a needle gage to determine the thickness of the cleftremoved from the needle and a screw knife with respect to the plate.

3. A needle cutter having in combinative association twopivoted-together jaws, said jaws having confronting depressions in theirinner surfaces; a plate in one depression, having an angular openingthrough which to insert a needle; a ioating unattached knife in theother depression in contact with the plate, a screw, tending to push theknife out of its depression and a spring to yieldingly hold the knifeand plate together.

A. A needle cutter having in combinative association twopivoted-together jaws, said jaws each having a depression in its innersurface, confronting the depression in the opposite jaw; a plate in onedepression having an angular opening through which to insert a needle; aknife in the other depression in contact with the plate; a spring, toyieldingly hold the knife and plate together and an adjusting screw,applied to the knife to vary the lateral separation of the jaws withoutseparating the knife and plate.

5. A needle cutter having in combinative association twopivoted-together jaws, said jaws each having a depression in its innersurface confronting the depression in the opposite jaw; a plate in onedepression having an angular opening through which to insert a needle; apocket carried by the latter jaw in register with said opening; aiioating unattached knife in the other depression in contact with theplate; an abutment carried by the knife containing jaw, constituting apart of the jaw; a spring to yieldingly hold the knife and platetogether and an adjusting screw applied to the knife to vary the lateralseparation of the jaws without separating the knife and plate whereby tovary the distance of said abutment from the plate.

6. A needle cutter having in combinative association, a pair of pivotedmembers, bearing on one end of each a jaw, the inner surfaces of thejaws having confronting depressions; a floating unattached knife bladein one depression, the other jaw having an opening through which to passa needle to be cut so that the end of the needle abuts the inner flushsurface of the jaw carrying the knife, the latter jaw having an openingcommunicating with the depression therein through which the chips may bedischarged and a screw to press the knife against the plate.

to adjust thel 7. A needle cutter having in combinative association twojaws, sion; a knife in one depression and a plate, having a needlereceiving opening in the other depression; a screw by which the jaws areheld together; a spring about said screw, to hold the jaws together andan adjusting screw bearing on the back of the knife to4 separate thejaws and to press the knife and plate together.

8. A needle cutter having in combinative association twopivoted-together jaws, one ofl said jaws perforated to receive the endof a needle, the other jaw having a depression within which to insert aknife; a floating unattached knife in said depression and a screw, inthe jaw containing the knife, to bodily move said knife with referenceto the other jaw.

9. A needle cutter having in coinbinative association twopivoted-together jaws, each having a depression in its inner surface,and one jaw perforated to receive a needle; two cooperating needlecutting instrumentalities, one in each depression and a screw passingthrough one jaw and bearing against the back of one of the cuttinginstrumentalities to press them together.

10. A needle cutter having in combinative association two pivotedtogether jaws, each having a depression in its inner surface; a plate inone depression cooperating with the knife to cut the needle; a floatingunattached knife blade in the other depression and a screw passingthrough a jaw and contacting the back of the blade to press it towardthe plate.

1l. A needle cutter having two relatively sliding jaws with a depressionin each jaw; a plate in one depression having an edge surface forcontact with a needle insertible through the jaw supporting the plate; aiioating unattached knife in the other depression in a planesubstantially parallel with the plate and a screw for bodily moving theknife toward the plate.

12. A needle cutter having a pair of pivotally connected members, eachhaving a depression in the face thereof adjacent the other member, and apair of floating cooperating shearing plates one located in eachdepression, one of said plates having an opening for the passage of thepoint of a needle to be cut, and manual means to adjust the proximity ofthe plates.

13. A needle cutter having a pair of pivotally connected members, eachof said members being provided with a depression in the face thereofadjacent the other meniber, a pair of floating unattached coperatingshearing plates, one located in each depression and one having a recesstherein for the passage of the point of a needle to be cut, and manuallyadjustable means passing through one of said members and engaging eachhaving a depres-r one oi said plates to insure the desired shearingcoperation between said plates.v

V14. A berV needleroutter having a pair of pivotally, interconnectedmembers, each member havingra recess in the face adjae cent the othermember; a pair of plates, one located in each recess and manually ad,-justable means passing through one of said members against-the baokofthe plate resting in the recess therein to adjustably press 10 saidplates together, to insure shearing action therebetween and to separatesaid Y members to gage the eut of said plates.

In testimony whereof I hereunto subscribe my name.

CHARLES E. 'JoHNson

